Improved treadle for sewing-machines



HENRY GAssEaT'T Davis-,or NEW YORK, N. YQ Lam Putman. 87,762, dem Magra 1c, 1869.

IMPRovED '.LREADLE4 FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY Gnssn'rtr DAVIS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in Treadle-Motions for Sewing-Machines, and for other purposes to which they may be applicable; and I declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of: my invention.

'.lhe treadle-motions of sewingf'machines, as constructed previous to my invention, have -th'e treadlesv for the feet horizontal, or thereabouts, when in theirI mean positions, and4 ananged so close to the front f the table at which the operator sits, that the legs of the operator are bent ata right angle, 'or thereabouts,

at the knees, andfromthe knees downward are nearly in vertical positions. By reason of this construction and arrangement of the treadle-motion, and the positions of the legs of the operator necessarily incident thereto, themuscles which operate the thighs, and extend into the lower part of the body, are put in motion and exercised whenever thepperatormoves the treadles; and as the movement of' these muscles, when the operator is sitting`,vai`1"ects the genital and uterine organs, the work of sewing with such treadle-rnotions is highly deleterious lto a majority of females, and is a constant source of the diseases of the womb and its adjacent organs, with which many females are aiicted. In fact, the deleterious eifects of operating the present treadle-motions of sewing-machines are so well under# stood by physicians, that many have prohibited their female patients from working upon sewing-machines.

The object of my invention is to improve the treadlemotion in such manner that it'can be operated without requiring the movement of the muscles of the lower part ofthe body, and consequently without risk of producing disease from such movement. To this end,

` The rst part ofiny invention consists in so arrangingand combining the treadles with the table of the treadle-motion, that while the front of the table occupies the same position as heretofore to the operator seated at it, the treadles can be operated with the legs extended at full length, or thereabouts, from the body to the feet, instead of bent at a right angle, v'or thereabouts, at the knees..

' rlhe obj ect ofthe second part of my invention is to adapt the same treadle-motion to persons of different length of limb; vand it consists of the combination of the rock-shaft of the treadles with the table of the .treadle-motion, byV means of slides, or their lequiva-` 4of an improved treadle-motion, constructed according to m'y invention,

v Figure 1 representing a front view of the machine, and

'distance being suiicient to enable a -person sitting at the -table to extend the legs as nearly in straight lines from the body as is convenient.

Moreover, the treadles D, instead of being horizontal, or nearly s'o, are set at an angle vwith the plane, y y, of the bottoms of the table-legs A, so that the faces of these treadles are perpendicular, or thereabouts, to the legs of the operator, when extended,

and at a convenient inclination to receive pressure The precise horizontal distance which should intervene between the heel of the treadle and the vertical line drawn at the front edge of the table, will of course be different for operators of diiferent sizes, in order tov obtain the full benefit of my invention but I have found that, whereas the said distance in ordinary treadle-motions varies from one to three inches at the furthest,

my invention requires that the said distance should be at least ten inches, and still greater for persons of medium and large sizes.

In order that the same machine may be-used to the best. advantage by persons of different length of limb, `the treadle-shaft G is supported in slides H, which are arranged to slide in guides I, toward or from the front of the table.

Moreover; the connecting-rod J, between the-treadles and the crank K, is made of two parts, ZZ', connected by a slide-box, m, so that the treadles can be set at the angle best suited to thelength of limb of the operator.

The slides are` tted with clamp-screws, n, and nuts, by means of which they cari be made fast in any position in which they may be placed, and the treadle-shaft and treadles may be thereby fixed in their positions.

The slide-box m, also, is fitted with a pinch-screw, p, to secure the parts of the connecting-rod in the positions in which they may be adjusted.

In the treadle-motion which I have represented in the drawings, the crank-shaft, Q, is placed in the poy sition, relatively to the iront of the table,`in which it is generally found in these machines, but the p osition of the crank-shaft may be changed, lwithout changing my invention, so long as the position of the treadles,

relatively to the front of the table, remains substantially the same; or, in other words, so` long as the arrangement of the treadlesA to the table is such that the operator can operate the treadles with the legs extended, or thereabouts.

What I claim as my invention, andI desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination and arrangement of the treadle and treadle-shaft with the table of the treadle-motion, so that theoperator may operate the treadle with the legs extended, substantially as before set forth.

Also, the combination of the treadle-shaft with the table, by means of slides, so that the position of the treadle may be varied, substantially as before set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereto subscribed my name, this 14th'day of January, A. D. 1869.4

HENRY G. DAVIS. Witnesses:

E. S.- RENwCK, W. L. BENNEM. 

